Remember a few months ago I posted about a toll-free number you could call to have the credit card companies stop sending credit applications and "convience checks" to you. Well this post is just to report that the service has worked very well. We used to get three or four mailings per day. We now only get one or two per week.

This is the text from the original post I made about it on August 13:

This is more important than the do-not-call database I wrote about a few weeks back. There is a toll-free number you can call to stop credit card companies from sending you unsolicited credit card applications and "convenience checks".

These unsolicited credit card applications are gold to identity theft criminals. They use your information to get credit cards in your name. It can take years to clear your credit history if this happens.

The number to call is 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. It is completely automated. You don't have to talk to a person. You can request to be taken off the list for two years, or permanently. Each person in a household must call to be taken off the list.

What will happen by calling this number is that the four main credit agencies will not provide your credit information to credit card companies looking for pre-screened addresses. For example, right now a credit card company might pay for a list of names and addresses that have a credit score between 22 and 36 with an annual income over $50,000. (Totally making these numbers up.) By calling this number, your name will not be included in the results of these types of queries.

These unsolicited credit applications is the main reason I have a document shredder. Here is a link to a story on CNN Money about identity theft that mentions the opt out number.

Do it today! Do it now! Let me know once you have successfully called the number so I won't have to keep bugging you.